Behind a seemingly useless match

Among the V-League 1 teams eliminated from this “parking lot” round are Ho Chi Minh City, Song Lam Nghe An and Hai Phong. It is worth mentioning that these 3 teams all drew 1-1 in 90 minutes of official play and “fell off the horse” after the penalty shootout. In fact, the team being eliminated from a Cup match, a second-class playground in the context of the fierce V-League approaching is not too surprising or disappointing.

Song Lam Nghe An was eliminated from the first match. Photo: Chung Le

For Song Lam Nghe An, being eliminated from the first round for 3 consecutive seasons only served to reinforce the opinion that Huy Hoang and his team were not interested in this tournament. They only played smart until they scored a goal and then "disappeared", took superficial penalty kicks to give up and have an excuse to blame. Not only Song Lam Nghe An but other losing teams also chose to lose to "deceive" the world that we did not give up, did not look down on the tournament, it was a matter of luck and we lost only because of bad luck.

It was thought that when there was a new sponsor, when the key players were invited back to serve the home team, Song Lam Nghe An would do differently, would have real ambition, would return, find the glorious tradition of winning the national championship 3 times, winning the national cup 3 times. In fact, last season, Huy Hoang boldly declared that the team would be in the Top 3 when finishing, but words and actions were different, so the results were visibly disastrous. This season, Huy Hoang is more modest when only striving to be in the top 8, meaning not in the top to avoid relegation in the second phase of the tournament. So then 4 consecutive matches with only draws with the home team Vinh is causing the team to have to give up the national cup as mentioned above, to focus all their strength on V-League as the usual way of thinking?

Not allowing foreign players to play in the national cup, of course there is room for young players to enter the field in an official match. 3 positions in the starting lineup are reserved for young players, in the match against a candidate for promotion to V-League like Quang Nam is an opportunity for young players like Xuan Tien, Van Cuong, Manh Quynh... to rub shoulders, to show themselves when the opportunity to join U23 Vietnam to attend the upcoming SEA Games continues to open up. The excellent assist situation of Van Cuong in this match, of Vi Hao in the match between Binh Duong and Binh Thuan, the beautiful goal of Van Do in the match between Hanoi Police and Khanh Hoa... will certainly be imprinted in the memory of coach Troussier. If the above young players continue to perform well when playing in the V-League in the next 3 rounds, they will be recognized and trusted in the upcoming big match of U23 Vietnam, will have the opportunity to face U23 Thailand as expected...

But apart from that advantage, the fact that Song Lam Nghe An or any team that loses from the preliminary round of the National Cup mentioned above all has specific "minus points". Huy Hoang has had his 5th consecutive draw (and loss) of the season, proving that this young coach has no practical way to move the team forward, if not to say that he is soon identified for some kind of "gang attack" ahead? When a team has no ambition, like Song Lam Nghe An, it cannot be said that they do not have real strength, then the goals set are often very low, moderate, low difficulty, the efforts therefore cannot be said to be high, or to be all-out.

In such an average environment, what can young players learn from their seniors, how much sweat they have to work, how much overtime they have to practice to mature? There is no and never will be any outstanding effort to progress, to mature when "the whole family" is like that. Just look at the recent match between Song Lam Nghe An and Quang Nam. After scoring a goal, Song Lam Nghe An was just a chaotic team, going with the flow. Ngoc Hai lost in an aerial situation and then kicked the opening penalty into the hands of the opposing team's goalkeeper. Trong Hoang scored and then kicked the penalty into the sky, letting the opponent continue. The examples before were so excellent, now so ordinary, how can the juniors learn, what method?

Also because of living in an environment without ambition and without striving, it is easy to understand why for a long time, when called up to the national team, almost 100% of Song Lam Nghe An players were sent back by strategists Park Hang-seo, Gong Oh-kyun or Troussier because they did not meet professional requirements. One person may have bias, but three people in a row, this is a matter of the system, a matter of nature, nothing more, nothing less.

Most likely, the deeper story is not with Huy Hoang and the players but with the sponsors and managers of the team in the context of "smart people, hard things" for a long time? The eternal story of a poor team can be repeated and the vicious cycle with no way out is showing in the low results as many people know? It is unimaginable for a poor team to "play" football hoping for a high ranking and if lucky, it will only be once, then that's it. It is also not easy for a poor team to hope to win the Second Division Cup. It is time to accept and recognize professional football with the winning and superiority of training centers, teams with truly large resources, capable of defeating any old "tradition".

So, a Cup match is like a light rehearsal, winning or losing seems like no big deal, but if you think about it carefully, you will be surprised...